Eyes Wide Shut
by Storybookgirl08
Summary: Set after 3.7 Chas and Spikings have a chat about how close they came to loosing one of the team and the effect that could have had. Does Chas know more than he is willing to tell his boss? First D&M fic.


**Disclaimer I do not own anything related to Dempsey and Makepeace. This is my first fic for Dempsey and Makepeace. Set after 3.7**

**Eyes Wide Shut.**

It had been the day from Hell. Chas couldn't wait to finish the last piece of paperwork and get home. He knew the rest of the team would either be in the pub or at home. He couldn't help but smile as he thought of his friends. The brash New Yorker that had been thrown into the team in a bid to keep him alive and the aristocratric blonde that noone really seemed to believe was a real police officer. That was until she was holding a gun on them and reading them their rights. He shook his head again as he thought of their last few cases. Spikings had nearly had a heart attack but for the first time in a long time Chas was glad that he was part of the specialised unit that the Metropolitan police allowed to carry guns. If they hadn't he knew that Harriet Makepeace would have been killed during their last case. He wandered over to the kettle in the corner of the office as Spikings emerged from his office. The older welsh man looked exhausted.

"Sir?"

"If you are making one Chas." He smiled slightly before sitting in the seat usually occupied by Dave, the baby of the team. Chas nodded and smiled as he filled two mugs with tea bags and milk as the kettle boiled. "Do you think they are alright? Harry I mean and that infernal yank?"

"Yes Sir." Chas lied.

"Come on Chas. What is going on there?" He took the mug gratefully as Chas took his own seat.

"You know Harry." He sighed. "She's a good officer."

"I know." Spikings took a sip of tea. "I bloody well know that but in the last year she has been shot at, held hostage and nearly resigned. That doesn't scream of a stable officer to me. Sounds like she's turning into bloody Dempsey of all people!" He could feel his blood pressure rise as he spoke.

"Dempsey is ok." Chas watched as Spikings rolled his eyes. "He is. Just a little impetuous."

"Hot headed, disrespectful, good for nothing."

"Good at his job, Sir." Chas had no idea why he was defending his friend. He had called Dempsey all the things Spikings was at one time or another. But they both knew that Makepeace was lucky to be alive. If Dempsey hadn't almost blackmailed the wife of the man now laying in the morgue it would have been her body laying there. The thought made Chas feel sick, he knew he could never imagine what had been going through Dempsey's mind as he had shot the lock of the blue transit van.

"Yes." Spikings replied. "But that is not what I asked."

"I know Sir." Chas sighed. His tea was rapidly cooling but he had no intention of making another. He also had no great wish to go home. His wife knew SI 10 was dangerous but she could never imagine how it felt to be as close to loosing a friend as they had been. Chas had no idea how Dempsey would have reacted if Harry had been killed. She may have been the only woman in the department but she was far from the weakest link. Harry Makepeace was tougher than most of the men, including Jim Dempsey. He placed his now empty mug back on his desk.

"Well?" Spikings was expecting an answer.

"When they left here they looked exhausted. Harry seemed a little quiet, but then we all did dismiss the notion of her being a target as run of the mill. I mean to most of the London criminals we are just that. Targets." He paused "I think Dempsey was exhausted, physically and emotionally. I mean when he radioed in I was fully expecting him t say that she. Well, you know." He looked away as the older man sighed.

"SI 10." He shook his head. "You know something Chas? We have lost too many people. Over the years. I need to know those two can take care of themselves. That everyone in this unit can."

"We can look after ourselves." Chas decided. "Harry and Dempsey, they think the same. They know what the other is going to do without having to think about it. Best partnerships are like that. Dave still has a lot to learn."

"That he does."

"He's going to be ok. Just has to learn not to let Dempsey wind him up. A bit of experience, that's all he needs under his belt." Chas watched as Spikings finished his tea.

"Thanks for the tea."

"Anytime Sir."

"Chas?"

"Sir?"

"You think there is anything going on with those two?" He already suspected there was, even if neither the Sargeant or the Leutenant admitted it to themselves let alone the rest of the world.

"Dempsey and Dave?" Chas raised an eyebrow.

"No." Spikings turned a funny shade of purple.. "Harry and Dempsey."

"Nah." Chas lied. "Nah, well not that I know about."

"And if you did know?"

"I'd say let them get on with it. And I'd be £20 richer. Dave has been running the odds on those two since he arrived." Spikings laughed.

"Just don't let Dempsey find out about that."

"No Sir."

Spikings walked back to his office as Chas began to pack away for the night. He smiled to himself. It had been a close call but the Thiller Killer was dead. His friends were alive and for once all was well with the world. He closed his desk drawer as he checked his wallet. For a moment he wondered if he should have told his boss that he had seen Dempsey almost in tears as he had hugged Makepeace to him. It had been almost as if he couldn't quite believe he was there with her. That she was alive. Chas shook his head and smiled. He had known about his friends dating for months. It would do no harm to let the others think that nothing had changed, that Dempsey had just been relieved not to loose another partner. He raised his hand in goodbye as he grabbed his jacket and left the office. SI 10 and all the paperwork would still be there waiting for him in the morning.

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A/N Well? What do you think. Please review. My first Dempsey and Makepeace fic.


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